Universal Trait Leadership Theories

This approach to leadership argues that individuals with certain traits are more likely to adopt behaviors that are associated with strong leadership, more likely to be perceived as credible, and are accepted by followers. Trait theories help us to understand and distinguish between strong and weak leadership based on the personal traits of the individual leaders. Thus, the focus of this section is to gain an awareness of personal characteristics, which have been found to be important for effective leaders, and this improves our ability to select individuals.

Charismatic Leadership Theory

The charismatic theory argues that there exist universal, personal traits that induce a profound and extraordinary effect on followers. The predominant traits associated with strong charismatic leaders are as follows.